Museum of Science, Boston Commits $200K to Create Scholarships for
Elementary Teachers in STEM Professional Development

November 16, 2015 08:30 AM Eastern Standard Time

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Museum of Science, Boston today announced a new initiative to bring
high-quality professional development to elementary teachers at
high-needs schools nationwide. The Museum is investing $200,000 to
create a scholarship program that will help elementary teachers
integrate engineering in their classrooms, using the award-winning
Engineering is Elementary® (EiE®) curriculum, developed at the Museum's
National Center for Technological Literacy® (NCTL®).

"We are very excited to offer elementary educators the Museum's own
scholarship program," says Museum president and director Ioannis
Miaoulis. "It will build on the impact of successful corporate-funded
EiE scholarship programs, such as one established by Raytheon in 2011,
and greatly expand our ability to bring engineering to more teachers and
students across the country."

"This scholarship program is a direct expression of commitment to our
core mission, which is to see that all students have access to
high-quality engineering education, starting at an early age," says EiE
director and Museum vice president Christine Cunningham. "One way we do
this is by giving teachers the tools and training they need to be
successful teaching engineering."

Elementary teachers rarely have much experience with engineering, yet in
many states are faced with new academic standards that put unprecedented
emphasis on the "E" in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math)
education.

The scholarships, which will be awarded on a competitive basis, will
give each recipient a complete classroom set of EiE curriculum materials
plus tuition and travel support to attend a two-day, hands-on EiE
teacher professional development workshop at the Museum in Boston.

Because past EiE scholarship programs have primarily supported educators
in high-needs urban school districts, some of the new scholarship slots
will be awarded to teachers in rural districts and those who work with
English language learners. "It can be especially challenging for
teachers in rural districts to access high-quality professional
development," says Cunningham. Other scholarships will be awarded to
teachers whose classes include a high proportion of English Language
Learners.

The EiE scholarship program will start accepting applications
November 16, 2015, on the project website.
Scholarship recipients will be announced in January 2016.

The affordable, inquiry-based EiE curriculum is the nation's most widely
used engineering curriculum for students in grades 1 – 5; it has reached
schools in all 50 states and is used statewide in Delaware, district
wide in locations including Baltimore, Washington, DC, and Minneapolis,
and in military schools under DoDEA. To date, EiE has reached more than
9 million students.

One of the world's largest science centers and Boston's most attended
cultural institution, the Museum introduces over 1.4 million visitors a
year to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) via dynamic
programs and hundreds of interactive exhibits. Founded in 1830, the
Museum is the nation's first science center with a comprehensive
strategy and infrastructure to foster technological literacy in museums
and schools nationwide. In 2015, its NCTL received the National Science
Board's Public Service Award, NCTL curricula have reached 9.5 million
students and 104,000 teachers. The Museum's 10,000-square-foot Hall
of Human Life draws on the latest discoveries in the life sciences
to engage visitors in their own biology and health. Other highlights
include The
Science Behind Pixar (through Jan 10, 2016), the Thomson Theater of
Electricity, Charles
Hayden Planetarium, Mugar
Omni Theater, Gordon Current Science & Technology Center, Butterfly
Garden and 4-D
Theater. Reaching over 20,000 teens a year worldwide via the Intel
Computer Clubhouse Network, the Museum also leads a 10-year, $41 million
National Science Foundation-funded Nanoscale Informal Science Education
Network of science museums. Visit http://www.mos.org.
Follow the Museum of Science on Twitter at @MuseumOfScience or Facebook
at www.facebook.com/museumofscience.